A blog for Literature and Culture of the Middles Ages (ENGL:3226:0001)

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

H2WOAH: Miracles and Baptism

In the picture above, it may look like a man in a dress is getting ready to boil a baby for supper. But do not fret- this man is just a priest performing a paedobaptism (or infant baptism). What is baptism exactly? According to Christian belief, a baptism is a holy ceremony in which a Priest blesses a person using water. The person being baptized professes Jesus as his or her savior, and in return, that person is cleansed of his or her sins. The rules and rituals of baptism differ from sect to sect, but many believe that one must be baptized in order to enter Heaven.

Aside from opening the pearly gates and washing away sins, there have been many stories of baptisms aiding in the performance of healing miracles. One of these stories is called The King of Tars which tells of a Christian princess and a Saracen king producing a blob baby. This baby lacks blood, bones, and basically all the parts that a normal, healthy baby would have. However, the blob is baptized, and it miraculously turns into an actual baby.

---> --->

While The King of Tars was written long ago, there are modern day stories of healing through baptism. For instance, an article from 2011 tells the story of a girl who suffered a brain hemorrhage. She was taken off life support and expected to die shortly thereafter, but her family opted to have her baptized before she passed. Instead of dying after her baptism, she made a miraculous recovery. Another example can be seen in this video which shows a woman claiming her cancerous tumor disappeared after being baptized.

Despite the validity of any of these stories, people still believe in the power of baptism. This continuous belief is just one aspect that connects The King of Tars to the present day. Even though this story was told years before our time, the ideas and morals referring to baptism or religious conversion portrayed in The King of Tars are still significant today. By simply Googling "baptism miracles" or watching a live-action baptism at a local church, one can see that this ritual holds great significance in the Christian faith. The present contains residual elements from the past, so old texts such as The King of Tars are important in understanding different beliefs and practices that exist in modern society.